Saturday, February 5, 2011

Valentine’s potholders

I have to admit, Valentine’s Day has never been a big deal in our house. While I love him dearly, hubby isn’t exactly Mr. Romance, given to lovey-dovey gestures, particularly on a day he is convinced was contrived by the greeting card industry. My boys still don’t get the concept of Valentine’s Day, so I figured, what’s the point?

But then it started. Little glimpses of what everyone else in blogland is doing to heart up their homes and spirits. All that pinky goodness is getting to me. Step one was a baby step. I moved the coffee filter wreath I made for Christmas from the hallway to over the fireplace – with the addition, of course, of a few pink hearts that my boys and I fashioned out of pipe cleaners.

Then I saw a link to these cute heart-shaped pot holders from Martha Stewart. Although on an intellectual level, Martha represents to me so much of the perfectionism I try to reject in my life, I can’t help myself: her projects are pretty much all adorable and I can spend hours browsing her website. Such a moral conundrum.

I dismissed the pot holders first (too cutesy), but left the tab open in my browser. For days, I’d take a peek and then shake my head no. Last night, the temptation became too much, and at about 11 pm, when I should have been going to bed, I instead went down to my sewing machine to cut out these little beauties. Pardon the wrinkles…I was feeling too lazy to iron.

They were super easy and quick to stitch. Best of all, I was able to make them from scraps. The polka dots were the remains of an apron I made for a friend, years ago. The white portion was cut from a nice thick canvas that used to be a stained bbq apron, and the back was cut from a pair of worn out jeans. I had the bias tape trim in my stash from a 95-cent sale at Fabricland last year.

I used one layer of Insulbrite batting instead of the three layers of cotton batting Martha suggested. The only other change I made was to start my binding at the bottom point of the heart. I started the first one at the centre top, as Martha directed, but I found it tricky to finish later. Starting at the bottom point gave me a cleaner finish.

You know, I've always sort of felt the same way about MS and we all know she has scores of professional staff who invent, design and create all of the crafts and recipes on her website and show. For a long time now she's been a "brand" not the domestic goddess who "does it all". Realistically how could she? But I digress and I think your potholders are really cute and I congratulate you on decorating for YOU.

These are really adorable! Are you going to just use them for decoration, or functionally, also? I always just worry about whether they will actually insulate the hand from heat (I'm so used to cotton thread crocheted potholders)

YAY, Tanya! You did a great job "linking" me to your blog which I adore and am now following! :) I so love that monogrammed T that you made for your little guy! Freezer paper stenciling is the best! I'm totally going to borrow this idea! :)

About Me

I'm a SAHM running after three young boys, and trying to fit sewing and other crafts into my hectic schedule of playing, cooking, laundry, shopping, alterations & other activities. 'Sew' many projects to tackle and so little time.